Chapter 156: Macau Tour

Now that Guo Yi and his team had established a firm foothold in Guangzhou, it was imperative to convert the inventory of spoils from Lingao into cash. If they could get orders for their spirits, it would provide a huge outlet for the waste from the upcoming sugarcane crushing season in Leizhou.

The Executive Committee approved this new exploratory action. Considering that entering Macau by land required passing through the Barrier Gate, and the Ming government’s relationship with Portuguese Macau was already deteriorating, they decided to take the simplest route: entering Macau’s harbor by sea to avoid unnecessary trouble.

The Portuguese regarded Macau as the pearl of their East Asian trade and were extremely wary of foreigners. However, they welcomed all Chinese traders, which was an advantageous condition for entering Macau. The Executive Committee also hoped to establish a trading house in Macau if possible, to export goods directly overseas without going through Guangzhou.

Macau in 1629 was at the peak of its trade history. The great triangular trade centered on Macau was the most profitable route in international trade at the time, and the transmigrators naturally had ambitions to get a piece of it.

The Guangzhou dispatch station had already been allocated a 40-ton single-masted ship by the Executive Committee for their use. The ships confiscated from Baitu and purchased locally in Hainan had given the Executive Committee a considerable fleet. The sailors on this ship were recruited locally from Guangzhou and were familiar with the hydrography of the Pearl River estuary.

However, both Guo Yi and Ma Qianzhu believed that this trip to Macau was a first reconnaissance, and it was best not to involve the newly hired locals. So, a 70-ton two-masted ship, the Tongji, was sent from Lingao. The Guangzhou dispatch station had limited personnel, so only Zhang Xin went. He had previously worked at a small shipyard on the shores of Dongting Lake and wanted to see Macau’s shipbuilding and repair capabilities firsthand, as well as observe the condition of the Portuguese ships there.

The rest of the personnel were drawn from the transmigrators in Lingao. As soon as this news spread, many idle people wanted to go to Macau to broaden their horizons—though most were probably hoping for some “foreign fun.” The reasons for wanting to join were varied. Business inspections, a common excuse for going abroad in their time, naturally wouldn’t pass the Executive Committee’s scrutiny. But everyone had their own tricks. For example, the industrial department proposed to investigate the level of European industrial technology; the agricultural department wanted to see if there were any European or American agricultural products being introduced; the finance department proposed to conduct an investigation into foreign monetary systems. As for Bai Duolu from the printing house, his reason was even more astounding: “I am a Catholic, and going to Macau will help with communication with the local Portuguese.”

…In the end, this “inspection group” swelled to over thirty people, while the original plan only required about ten, including sailors. Those who were approved were naturally overjoyed, stuffing all sorts of modern gadgets into their bags, preparing to go to Macau and do what European sailors did in Africa and America: seduce native women with glass beads. Those who didn’t get a spot on the “Macau tour” complained endlessly, and their department heads had to appease them with promises. The resulting turmoil is not worth detailing here.

The Macau trade and commerce inspection group was led by Wen Desi. Diana Mendoza accompanied them as a translator. Zhou Weisen also tagged along, using the excuse of taking care of his family member—it would be a problem if this “foreign horse” (a slang term for a Western woman) got lost among her fellow countrymen and ran away.

The Tongji was loaded with various samples in Guangzhou, and Zhang Xin was picked up. When Old Manager Shen heard that Master Zhang was going to Macau, he had originally intended to introduce an interpreter to go with them, but Guo Yi, fearing that their strange-looking group would attract attention, did not agree. Shen Fan wrote a letter of introduction, saying that he had a client in Macau who owned a silk shop and was fluent in the barbarian tongue. If they needed any help, they could go to him.

Macau is very close to Guangzhou. Strictly speaking, both Macau and Hong Kong can be considered the outer harbors of Guangzhou. Their jurisdiction belonged to Xiangshan County. Almost every transmigrator on the ship could recite the history of the Portuguese settlement in Macau. Some had even visited there in their original time. Everyone was extremely interested in what Macau looked like in this era.

As the ship exited the Pearl River estuary and entered the open sea, Monde spotted Macau. Everyone looked into the distance and saw that it was a tombolo. The island was connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land, shaped like a lotus. Macau was very small. Modern Macau is only about 16 square kilometers, and at this time, Macau had not yet expanded its territory; it was just “a city built along the mountain, about four or five li in circumference.”

On the stem of the lotus was a gate building, which was the Barrier Gate. To go to Macau by land, one had to pass through this gate. Theoretically, passing through the gate was like crossing a border. In reality, the Ming and Qing governments both had judicial and administrative jurisdiction over Macau; it was just that the Portuguese in Macau had long practiced self-governance, and the Chinese government rarely interfered. Macau would not truly break away from Chinese government control until after 1842.

Macau had an inner and an outer harbor. Monde and his crew steered the ship towards the inner harbor. From the ship, the whole of Macau was clearly visible. It had been nearly half a century since the Portuguese officially received permission to reside here in 1583. Supported by high trade profits, the city’s construction had taken shape. Tall, Western-style city walls surrounded the city, and the batteries at key points were very conspicuous. The British and Dutch had repeatedly tried to seize Macau, so the Portuguese-Macanese authorities were very concerned about the city’s defenses. By 1623, all of Macau’s main batteries had been completed.

Apparently, the Portuguese-Macanese authorities paid little attention to Chinese ships. Entry and exit from the bay were very casual, with no stopping or inspection. The Tongji easily entered the inner harbor. Several Portuguese ships were moored in the harbor. The towering masts of two large ships left a deep impression on everyone. According to Wen Desi’s estimate, these ships were over 1500 tons, quite spectacular for wooden ships. These should be the large ships used by Portuguese merchants on the triangular trade route. As for the various small and medium-sized local Chinese wooden boats, they were countless in the bay, mostly merchant ships from Guangdong and Fujian transporting goods.

Bai Duolu, who had joined the inspection group under the pretext of being a Catholic, went ashore with everyone else. It was unclear how the foreign woman with Wen Zong had negotiated with the Portuguese, but everyone landed smoothly. Bai Duolu’s English was quite good, but at this time and place, English was as useless as Chinese. As the group walked through the streets of this tiny place, their ears filled with the chirping of foreign tongues, a sense of bewilderment rose in their hearts.

The layout of Macau’s city was completely different from traditional Chinese cities, resembling a small Spanish town with neat, uniform streets. The city was small, with a cross-street at its core. At the intersection stood a tall cross. The buildings along the streets were mostly Iberian-style small houses with porticoes on the ground floor. The walls were painted snow-white. From the street, they could see that the windows along the street were all covered with shutters. Someone thought of playing the guitar under a window. Miss Mendoza told Wen Zong in English that this place was very similar to some small inland towns in Venezuela. Wen Zong thought this was not surprising—both were typical Iberian colonial cities.

As for the pedestrians on the street, they were very characteristic of a colonial city: Portuguese, Chinese, blacks, and their mixed-race descendants were naturally all present. There were also many Japanese, mostly wearing the livery of Portuguese servants, running back and forth. The Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch all employed Japanese as servants, craftsmen, sailors, and soldiers throughout East and Southeast Asia. There were also some dark-skinned, curly-haired people who looked like Indians. There were also many shifty-eyed, wretched-looking Southeast Asian natives. The streets were bustling and lively: nobles on horseback, noblewomen in two-man sedan chairs, wearing veils and sarasa (a type of cloth), followed by black slaves holding umbrellas. Even in a colony thousands of miles from their homeland, they still maintained their original style. As for the sailors of various skin colors, dressed in rags, they were also a common sight on the street, all drunk and staggering. At the gates of the large houses sat servants in livery, holding rattan canes, ready to give a sharp blow to any drunkard who tried to trespass.

At this time, Macau’s population had also grown significantly. The permanent Portuguese population, including their black slaves, was about a thousand. There were also uncounted local Chinese, and many Indians and Malays who were staying temporarily for trade or as sailors.

The group strolled along the streets, looking around, but they never found the legendary “tavern” with Western barmaids. So, Bai Duolu suggested they go see what the famous Ruins of St. Paul’s looked like before it was burned down. Everyone agreed. When they found the original site based on their rough impressions, they discovered that it was under major construction. It turned out that the Ruins of St. Paul’s, that is, St. Paul’s Church, was still being built. The ground was covered with stones and timber, and the craftsmen were all Japanese. They found someone who spoke Japanese and inquired. It turned out that construction on the church had begun in 1612. The group thought the efficiency was rather low—after seventeen years of construction, the church still looked like an unfinished building. They wondered what this group of Japanese had been doing for the past seventeen years.

Bai Duolu used his Catholic identity to quickly get some useful information from the Japanese. Most of them were Kirishitan (Christians), and working here was both a livelihood and a form of devotion. The Japanese were very enthusiastic towards their Chinese fellow Catholic, Bai Duolu. After reciting a few lines of the Bible together in broken Latin, the Japanese craftsmen told them a lot about the local situation.

It turned out that the great triangular trade that had once made Macau prosperous had been cut off on one route. According to the Japanese, in 1608, a ship from the Arima domain had a fierce conflict with the Portuguese while passing through Macau. The then-governor of Macau, André Pessoa, suppressed the mutinous crew on the Japanese ship, killing many and executing the leader. Only at the plea of the Bishop of Macau were the lives of 15 prisoners spared.

When André Pessoa went to Japan to trade in 1610, he was met with fierce retaliation from the Arima domain. The regular ship was besieged by 4,000 men, and in desperation, André Pessoa ignited the ship’s powder magazine. The trade between the Portuguese and Japan was thus interrupted.